Review: Ballina Beach Village

Situated in the pleasant Dolphin Bay in East Ballina, is the peaceful dog-friendly Ballina Beach Village. Located on 15 acres of land and surrounded by spectacular National Parks this eco destination is the perfect spot to relax on your dog accommodation holiday.

We stayed in a self-contained superior cabin with a fully equipped kitchen, en-suite style bathroom, comfortable double bed in the master bedroom and an alcove that contained bunk beds. Brandie found herself a nice shady spot underneath the bunks so she felt quite relaxed and dragged her blanket underneath to make herself a cosy bed!

The living area had a large l-shaped couch, which was very relaxing to sit and plan our days ahead. The air conditioning unit was a much welcome addition on some of the particularly hot days. We enjoyed a beer on the deck, which gave us a good opportunity to meet other guests and their dogs.

Through the park were nice easy walking tracks to guide you to a children’s playground with swings, slippery dip and large enclosed trampoline. The pool area had a large swimming pool for adults a kid’s pool for the toddlers.

The fully stocked kiosk was great especially if you wanted to rent a DVD or borrow a book. Mermaids Café had an all-day breakfast menu, which included a delicious big breakfast. A variety of burgers, sandwiches and wraps are on offer for lunch and the seafood packs were a great option to get a takeaway pack and sit on the beach to eat. Chef John cooked us up some mean beef burgers for dinner, which we recommend trying!

South Ballina Beach is easily accessed by 4WD, however this part of the beach isn’t dog friendly. Patches Beach was a 10-minute drive away and dogs are free to run around. We were cautious however of our dog Brandie going in the water due to recent shark sightings, but she loved playing on the beach.

On our days out we explored the town of Ballina, a 10-minute car ferry ride ($4.50 per trip, we recommend buying a weekly pass which is more cost effective) the ferry operates daily from 5:30am until midnight. Note that it does close on the second Tuesday of each month for a few hours of maintenance.

We loved the 4-minute ride across the Richmond River, a great shortcut and very peaceful views! We found the staff to be very friendly and accommodating and there were always people hard at work maintaining the grounds whether it was oiling the decks or mowing the lawn. There was no aggressive dog behaviour and all guests respected the rules and each other. Overall we had such a fantastic stay at the Ballina Beach Village and our only regret was not staying for long enough! We can’t wait to return in the near future!